


Misfits

by zedpm



Series: disco aus [3]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blanket Permission, Canon Character of Color, Crossover, Gen, I'm gonna give the gays everything they want, POV Third Person Limited, Past Tense, but i'm marking it as one just in case!, idk if this counts as a crossover bc it all takes place in the star trek universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-17 22:50:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21551065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zedpm/pseuds/zedpm
Summary: Michael didn’t know what she had expected to find when she beamed aboard the starship Discovery, but a personal greeting from Captain Nog hadn't been it.
Relationships: Michael Burnham & Jake Sisko, Nog/Jake Sisko
Series: disco aus [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1404397
Comments: 6
Kudos: 36





	Misfits

**Author's Note:**

> this au is based on [this](http://jazzypizzaz.tumblr.com/post/142461938402/thesylverlining-ayellowbirds) tumblr post. in this, nog is captain of a ragtag crew: the federation starship _discovery._ this takes place around 2390, 15 years after the dominion war. 
> 
> **content warning:** discussion of marginalization (alien racism and ableism)

Michael didn’t know what she had expected to find when she beamed aboard the starship _Discovery,_ but a personal greeting from Captain Nog hadn't been it. The short ferengi man stood in front of the transporter pad, a slight frown on his face. She straightened up and saluted. "Sir."

“So you’re Michael Burnham, eh?” the captain growled. “The famous mutineer.”

She nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Captain Nog gave her a long look, and then broke into a toothy grin, walking up to her and shaking her hand vigorously. “At ease, Burnham! It’s great to have you on board.”

“Sir?”

Captain Nog’s grin widened. “Come with me,” he said, and they headed out into the hall. “I heard about what you did. Mutiny, sure. You saved a thousand lives onboard the _Shenzhou._ Firing on that rogue ship, kicking holy jem’hadar ass. Hey, Onyesonwu.” Nog led her into a turbolift. “Bridge.” He turned to her. “Why do you think you got a commendation, and not a Federation prison cell? I got Admiral Worf to pull some strings. I knew you were the kind of person I wanted on _Discovery._ I think you’ll fit in well here.”

Michael considered him. “I didn’t know you did that, sir. Thank you.”

Nog winced as the turbolift pulled to a stop. “It always makes this horrible noise when we reach the bridge. I think Cadet Molly has it out for me.” He shook his head. “You put tube grubs in someone’s raktajino one time…”

They walked onto the bridge, and Captain Nog said, “Hey everyone, this is Commander Burnham. The mutineer war hero, you may have heard of her. Burnham, this is everybody.” Michael nodded shortly. “You’re still in command, Alex. Burnham, my ready room.”

Michael raised her eyebrows as she entered the ready room; it was a cluttered hodgepodge of eye-searing ferengi decoration, holos of what must have been a hundred people in different combinations, and what, to all intents and purposes, was random garbage. Nog sat down at his desk and gestured across from it. “Sit if you want to, or don’t if you don’t.”

Michael sat. Nog grinned at her again. _“Discovery’s_ a hunk of junk,” he said. “You may be aware that the Federation isn’t exactly fond of the ferengi. After the war, Command knew I was on the fast track, and they couldn’t do anything to stop it. But what they could do was give me an old garbage scow of a ship and a crew of misfits.” He leaned in. “But their plan backfired. What they gave me is a complement of people who knew adversity intimately, and had a hunger to prove themselves. It’s the most diverse crew in the whole fleet. We have vulcans, andorians, a klingon, a kelpien, you name it. And now we have a mutineer.” He leaned back with a satisfied smile. “You’ll find that people here don’t judge. And they all have incredible stories to tell.”

Michael smiled with her eyes. “I’m honored, sir.”

“As you should be. You’re going to be first officer, which I know you were on the _Shenzhou_ as well. I’ll send you a general briefing on ship’s operations, what you’ll be expected to do, ongoing missions, the works. Come to me if you have anything you want to discuss. Questions, concerns, suggestions, compliments. We’re having a welcoming party for you tonight in the rec center. Be there at 2000 hours.” 

“I don’t like parties, Captain.”

Nog smiled toothily. “Too bad, Commander. I’ll see you tonight. Dismissed.”

Michael stood and bowed her head slightly. “Captain.”

She headed to her quarters and unpacked her few possessions, settled in at her desk, and caught up on briefs. After a while she grabbed a padd and headed to the mess hall. It was small and moderately crowded, and she looked futilely for an empty table before finally approaching a man sitting alone, reading. “May I sit here?” Michael asked.

The man looked up, setting down his padd. “Sure. You must be the new first officer. I’m Jake Sisko.” Michael did a double take. He held out a hand, and she shook it, sitting down and dividing her dinner into sections.

“Are you the Jake Sisko who wrote _Anslem?”_ Michael asked.

“One and the same,” Jake confirmed. 

Michael tamped down her excitement, but couldn’t help the corners of her mouth from twitching. “I love your work,” she said. “It’s beautiful. Literary, intelligent, but without pretension.”

Jake looked embarrassed. “Thank you, Commander.”

“Call me Michael,” she insisted. 

“Well, then thank you, Michael. I’m a fan of your work too. I think what you did was very brave.”

Michael shook her head. “I did what I had to do. It was life or death.”

“You’re Starfleet,” Jake said, smiling at her wryly. “You see bravery differently. Trust me, for civilians, that kind of selflessness is a lot harder. In any case, we’ve sufficiently praised one another. What do you think of _Discovery?_ ”

Michael considered it, eating a piece of broccoli and looking around the room. “I haven’t seen much,” she said. “The captain is very unusual. I think we’ll work well together. I’m curious as to why I haven’t heard more about the ship before my assignment here. I would think Starfleet would make an example of such a diverse crew.”

“They’re embarrassed,” Jake told her. “They wanted Nog to fail, and now he’s outperforming everyone.” He gave her a conspiratorial grin and held up his padd. “That’s part of why I’m here. I’m writing stories about the crew and their lives. It’ll be a short story collection. Well, a long story collection. Probably around six or seven hundred pages. Well, I might put it out as a few volumes.” He shook his head. “Not important. It’s good work.”

“It sounds wonderful,” Michael said. “What’s your favorite story you’ve written?”

“An author should never judge his own work,” Jake scolded jokingly. “But my favorite story I’ve heard… hm. Let me get back to you.” He winked at her. “It could be yours.”

“Not yet,” Michael said. “But maybe sometime.”

Jake took a bite of his meal, observing Michael as she relaxed into her seat. “You’ll fit in here,” he decided. “As long as you’re kind to people, I think you’ll fit in just fine.” He checked an old analog watch. “1930. You strike me as the kind of person who likes to be early to parties.” He stood, taking both their trays to the recycling chute and looking back at her, gesturing with one hand. Michael followed.

“What’s the other reason you’re onboard?” she asked as they sat down in the rec center.

“Nog is my partner,” Jake said. “So.”

“Ah,” Michael said. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, and people began to trickle in through the open doors. Michael watched them, and Jake nudged her.

“This is your party, you know,” he said. “You should get to know your crew.”

She glared, but went to mingle. She ended up talking to Lieutenant Saru, who seemed intent on giving her a complete explanation of kelpian biology. She heard a groan from behind her, and turned to see a ruddy-faced girl with wild orange curls.

“Saru, are you infodumping on this poor woman?” the girl asked. “Hi. I’m Ensign Tilly. Saru, stop browbeating our new first officer.”

“I was not,” Saru said, affronted. “Commander Burnham was interested.”

Tilly rolled her eyes. “I’m sure she was.”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “I _was_ interested,” she said. “Perhaps, however, not to that extent.”

Saru blinked, then looked embarrassed. “Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Michael said.

“Bet you’re just glad you didn’t end up in the slammer!” Ensign Tilly joked, and then blushed. “Um.”

Michael smiled, just a little. “Indeed.”

Tilly rubbed the back of her neck. “So, how’d you end up on the _Discovery,_ anyway?”

Michael managed to slip out of the party around 2300 hours, though her late departure was due less to the captain’s prerogative than to the fact that she had—despite herself—ended up enjoying the party. The _Discovery_ was a strange, chaotic ship, but its crew was enthusiastic and dedicated. Michael hadn’t enjoyed herself this much in years. It might not be the best career move, but Michael thought it might be a good life move.

 _Sarek’s going to hate this,_ Michael thought to herself, amused. _But I don’t._ She let herself grin within the privacy of her chambers. _I’m pretty sure I’m going to love it._


End file.
